On Wednesday, the U.S. House ignored the wishes of millions of American voters and passed a do-nothing “Continuing Resolution” (CR) to fund the government for the next three weeks.

The CR now heads to the Senate for an expected vote on Thursday. Gun Owners of America has written Senate members to let them know of its opposition to that CR.

The first issue is ObamaCare. Republicans ran for election promising that they would repeal it -– or at least defund it. But it is increasingly apparent that some members of the leadership lack the courage to defund ObamaCare on the short-term CR … or on the long-term CR on April 8 … or on the debt limit.

So when, exactly, do they intend to show us that their word is worth the paper it is written on?

The problem for gun owners is that ObamaCare will allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives(ATF) to troll its health database for Americans who suffer from ailments such as PTSD –-millions of whom could find themselves subject to a gun ban under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4).

The second issue for us is that the three-week CR fails to include the Boren-Rehberg amendment, which would block efforts by the ATF to set up an illegal gun registry of multiple firearms sales.

Without defunding ObamaCare –- and without incorporating the Boren-Rehberg amendment -– this CR will continue to fund these unconstitutional activities, thereby endorsing them.

We are particularly sickened by cowards who are so afraid that Barack Obama will shut down his own administration that they are willing to allow him to dictate every provision in each CR.

ACTION: Contact your Senators and tell them to vote against the three-week CR.
Click here to use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your legislator a pre-written e-mail message.

GOD'S WORD FOR TODAY
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Corinthians I 1:20 (KJV)

Within the next 90 days, Congress will vote on whether to reauthorize legislation to specifically allow the government potential access to millions of gun records (4473’s).

Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which must be reauthorized soon, is of particular concern.

This section allows the FBI to seize business records -- including the 4473 forms that gun buyers fill out. The only significant caveat is that the FBI must claim that the seizure of records is needed pursuant to “an authorized investigation.”

But since a secret court is required to rubber-stamp the government’s request (unless it fails to make even a specious case), the FBI can easily abuse its authority. The Inspector General found that, between 2003 and 2006, the FBI may have violated the law over 6,000 times with respect to their authority under various provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

So just imagine that it’s your gun records that have been seized. Under such circumstances, the gun dealer is specifically prohibited, under penalty of law, from telling you that the FBI has confiscated the records of your firearms purchases. Under the PATRIOT Act, any limitations on the use of the seized records shall be at the sole discretion of the Department of Justice.

Talk about the fox guarding the hen house!

It is imperative that Congress protect gun owners from rogue government agents who would abuse their authority to register gun owners.

We’ve already seen the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives attempt to register gun owners recently when they tried to require certain gun dealers to report anyone who, within a five day period, tried to purchase two or more semi-automatic rifles (that are .22 caliber or greater and can accept a detachable magazine).

Historically, gun registration has been a prelude to gun confiscation, as documented by the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership almost 20 years ago. They showed how several foreign governments in the Twentieth Century had used gun control -- and quite often gun registration -- to confiscate firearms. In each case, such confiscation was a prelude to genocide.

ACTION: Contact your two senators and insist that any language to reauthorize Section 215 also contain language to protect 4473’s from the Obama administration’s scrutiny. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

GOD'S WORD FOR TODAY
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 KJV

03/07/11

You can read the text of RTBA by clicking the Background tab above, or you can start by reading a summary of the legislation below. Following that summary is a description of our strategy for passing RTBA, and then a call to action.
Part 1: What RTBA does and why

Most Congressmen are lawyers, and many others are businessmen. They know what “fiduciary responsibility” is. For Members of Congress, fiduciary responsibility means reading each word of every bill before they vote.

But Congress has not met this duty for a long time. Instead . . .

* They carelessly pass mammoth bills that none of them have read. Sometimes printed copies aren't even available when they vote!

* Often no one knows what these bills contain, or what they really do, or what they will really cost.

* Additions and deletions are made at the last minute, in secrecy.

* They combine unpopular proposals with popular measures that few in Congress want to oppose. (This practice is called “log-rolling.”)

* And votes are held with little debate or public notice.

* Oh, and once these bills are passed, and one of these unpopular proposals comes to light, they pretend to be shocked. “How did that get in there?” they say.

There's a basic principle at stake here. America was founded on the slogan, “No taxation without representation.” A similar slogan applies to this situation:

“No LEGISLATION without representation.”

We hold this truth to be self-evident, that those in Congress who vote on legislation they have not read, have not represented their constituents. They have misrepresented them.

And since Congress has repeatedly committed “legislation without representation,” strong measures to prohibit these Congressional misrepresentations are both justified and required.

To this end we have created the “Read the Bills Act (RTBA).” RTBA requires that . . .

* Each bill, and every amendment, must be read in its entirety before a quorum in both the House and Senate.

* Every member of the House and Senate who plans to vote in the affirmative – to vote for tax increases, for spending bills, for the retention or creation of programs, in support of laws and regulations – must sign a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that he or she has attentively either personally read, or heard read, the complete bill to be voted on.

* Every old law coming up for renewal under the sunset provisions must also be read according to the same rules that apply to new bills.

* Every bill to be voted on must be published on the Internet at least 7 days before a vote, and Congress must give public notice of the date when a vote will be held on that bill.

* Passage of a bill that does not abide by these provisions will render the measure null and void, and establish grounds for the law to be challenged in court.

* Congress cannot waive these requirements.

The effects of these provisions will be profound . . .

* Congress will have to slow down. This means the pace of government growth will also slow.

* Bills will shrink, be less complicated, and contain fewer subjects, so that Congress will be able to endure hearing them read.

* Fewer bad proposals will be passed due to “log-rolling.”

* No more secret clauses will be inserted into bills at the last moment.

* Government should shrink as old laws reach their sunset date, and have to be read for the first time before they can be renewed.

And all of these things will enable a larger DownsizeDC.org to more effectively lobby Congress for small government.
Part 2: Our Strategy for passing RTBA

Our plan for passing this legislation is simple, but powerful.

* We have submitted a copy of RTBA to every member of Congress.

* We are asking every member of the House and Senate to sponsor this legislation and work for its passage.

* We are mounting a campaign to recruit thousands, and perhaps millions of Americans to lobby Congress to support RTBA.

* We are promoting this campaign with a variety of tactics, from Internet networking, to media interviews, to whatever it takes.

* We will run targeted radio ads, letting citizens know that their Congressman is failing to support this badly needed reform.

The need for this reform is so self-evident that nearly every person in America should support it, and few oppose it. We see no reason why we should not be able to overwhelm Congress with calls to pass this legislation.

* We dare Congress not to pass it. The more they resist, the larger and stronger we will grow.

* We dare anyone to challenge it in Court. The more the lobbyists attempt to defeat this reform, the larger and stronger we will grow.

* We dare the Courts to declare it un-Constitutional. If they do, we will grow larger and stronger as a result — probably big enough to begin a campaign to amend the Constitution to forbid “LEGISLATION without representation.”

There is simply no reason that any normal, tax-paying American should oppose RTBA. And the more the “powers that be” resist these reforms, the larger and stronger we will grow.

We win either way. And thus, we believe, we will win in the end.
Part 3: A Call to Action

You can help pass RTBA. All you have to do is register to use our easy Electronic Lobbyist system and send a message to your Representative and your Senators asking them to pass RTBA. Registering to use our system will also enable you to lobby Congress on other issues, and to receive our free email newsletter, Downsizer-Dispatch. This free email newsletter will keep you posted on progress with RTBA and other Downsize DC lobbying campaigns. To send your message to Congress in support of RTBA click here.

Thank you.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org

GOD'S WORD FOR TODAY
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (KJV)

I received a disturbing twitter message from someone who claims to be in Egypt. They are making claims that the military who is their to temporarily calm things down after their oppressive leader Mubarak fled, is beating, shocking, torturing, arresting and even killing the protesters.

Is the military doing the work that Mubarack would have done while he was there or is there something more to what is happening?

Those concerned with liberty and freedom are not all that pleased with how their newly elected Tea Party members have voted on the Patriot Act Provisions.

Twitter is on fire with disparaging comments about the so called tea party members who voted in support of the renewal provisions of the act.

Most Americans want our nation kept safe, but they do not want it done at the loss of their liberties. Domestic spying, warrantless wiretapping, and the list goes on and on.

The GOP was not able to get the votes they needed for a two-thirds majority this week, so they are taking a new route to get their unconstitutional agenda passed.

They will hold another vote. This time only a majority vote passes or fails. Perhaps, it is time Americans stand up, call, fax and email their supposed representatives and tell them to vote no on the extension of the patriot act.

While they are at it, they should be calling both house and senate members. Because the Democrat controlled senate is working on their own version of the legislation in case the the GOP Controlled House isn't able to pass their version.

The GOP and the Democrats both are ignoring the will of the people. Working hand in hand to shred our liberties. Perhaps, now is the time to tell them, all that they can be replaced by third party candidates come 2012.